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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27120049">A Matter of Faith</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwritesforfun/pseuds/Gwritesforfun'>Gwritesforfun</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Questioning, Reflection, Religion, faith - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:08:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,647</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27120049</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwritesforfun/pseuds/Gwritesforfun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The SPRQ Point coding team is having an existential crisis.  All at the same time.  To the same song.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Matter of Faith</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Losing My Religion by REM is the song.</p>
<p>Hookedoncaptainswan is an amazing beta.  ILY.</p>
<p>I own nothing.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zoey sat at her desk, contemplating her next move. Everything was...off...today. The team seemed to be a bit lost and out of sync. Perhaps a full moon, a lack of sleep, or hangovers, but whatever it was definitely had an impact on morale today.</p>
<p>So, how to get the team back on track? Zoey was making a list of ideas when the music started.</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh life, it's bigger<br/>It's bigger than you<br/>And you are not me<br/>The lengths that I will go to<br/>The distance in your eyes<br/>Oh no, I've said too much<br/>I set it up</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>That's me in the corner<br/>That's me in the spotlight<br/>Losing my religion<br/>Trying to keep up with you<br/>And I don't know if I can do it<br/>Oh no, I've said too much<br/>I haven't said enough</em>
</p>
<p>Leif stood at his desk, looking sullen as he sang. Zoey wished she could read his mind.</p>
<p>-----<br/>Leif’s brother was getting married. His pious, conservative, obedient younger brother. You see, what people didn’t know about Leif was that his relationship with his family was strained, at best. It was hard being an outcast in a conservative religious family where children were taught to obey their parents and follow a certain protocol.  </p>
<p>Leif’s childhood wasn’t bad, per se. Being the firstborn however, had a set of expectations, none of which he met.  His name means “Heir” but he was nothing of the sort. If his parents had it their way, he would be married, have a few kids, and work in the family business</p>
<p>Somehow he convinced his parents to send him away to college instead of the local university.  Leif thrived in college, majoring in computer science and dating a young woman named Beth.</p>
<p>However, he also found himself falling for Beth’s roommate, Angelo. Leif tentatively started to explore his sexuality, and soon realized he was bisexual. When he returned home for Christmas he announced that he would be staying in California after graduation, and ‘oh, by the way, I have a boyfriend.’ Needless to say, his parents were less than thrilled.  </p>
<p>So now his youngest brother out of the four siblings was marrying his high school sweetheart and his family asked Leif to attend. Leif was torn between wanting to see his siblings, who were always pleasant but distant to him, and not wanting to see his parents.</p>
<p>He sighed, not knowing what to do. Why did his family’s idea of faith mean he was ostracized?  He couldn’t figure it out, and wasn’t sure if he wanted to.</p>
<p>------</p>
<p>
  <em>I thought that I heard you laughing<br/>I thought that I heard you sing<br/>I think I thought I saw you try</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Every whisper<br/>Of every waking hour<br/>I'm choosing my confessions<br/>Trying to keep an eye on you<br/>Like a hurt, lost and blinded fool, fool<br/>Oh no, I've said too much<br/>I set it up </em>
</p>
<p>Tobin’s clear voice radiated through the air, catching Zoey’s attention. Oh good, he’s singing too.  This was an interesting afternoon for sure.</p>
<p>----</p>
<p>Tobin looked at the email from his dad, which contained yet another set of biodata for potential marriage matches. He rolled his eyes. Even though he tried desperately to be the good Hindu son his dad wanted him to be, there was always the constant battle between his own wants and his father’s. Tobin felt the pressure to be a young Indian-American man who respected his culture, religion and family, but if he had to go on one more blind date to appease his father he was going to lose it.</p>
<p>Being in his mid-twenties and successful meant that he was an excellent catch, and Manish Batra had hired the best matchmaker in California to try and find his son a wife.  Tobin and his father had argued about it relentlessly. He thought it was over when, in a fit of anger, he screamed “then why did mom leave?” and his dad had been rendered speechless. As a child, Tobin thought he had done something wrong to make his mom want to move back to India and divorce his dad. He went to the temple and prayed to bring her back, but she never returned, her only contact being an occasional email or birthday card.  </p>
<p>So to say that Tobin didn’t really believe in the power of faith was an understatement. He sighed and returned his eyes to his computer screen, trying to drown out the emptiness that filled his heart.</p>
<p>-----<br/>Zoey thought it was over, but of course, the universe had other ideas.  </p>
<p>Because Simon was now singing, and he was <em>sad</em>.  </p>
<p>Apparently everyone in the office was having an existential crisis today. To the same song, no less.  Zoey wanted to run away, but the rules of her power meant that she had to try to help the singer. So she listened.</p>
<p>
  <em>Consider this<br/>Consider this, the hint of the century<br/>Consider this, the slip<br/>That brought me to my knees, failed<br/>What if all these fantasies come<br/>Flailing around<br/>Now I've said too much</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I thought that I heard you laughing<br/>I thought that I heard you sing<br/>I think I thought I saw you try</em>
</p>
<p><em>But that was just a dream<br/>That was just a dream</em><br/>--------</p>
<p>Simon remembered his childhood, and the memory of Sunday afternoons flooded his head. He would go to church with his parents, where his mom sang in the choir. Simon would sit with his dad and grandma, and they would have a great time listening to the preacher and singing along. Afterwards, his family had lunch and an afternoon of board games and laughter.</p>
<p>As an adult, Simon continued the tradition of attending services and found a church that he liked. Ever since his father’s death, however, he’d lost his faith. How could the all-loving God he was taught about allow something like this to happen?  Simon was shaken to his core and he couldn’t bear to step foot in a church. His faith was flickering out like a candle and Simon didn’t know how to feel about it.</p>
<p>-----</p>
<p>Just when Zoey thought everyone had settled down, the music started up again.  Oh good, now Joan was having a crisis.  Couldn’t anyone choose <em>tomorrow</em> for their existential meltdowns? There were deadlines, people.  <em>Dead. Lines</em>.</p>
<p>
  <em>That's me in the corner<br/>That's me in the spotlight<br/>Losing my religion<br/>Trying to keep up with you<br/>And I don't know if I can do it<br/>Oh no, I've said too much<br/>I haven't said enough</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I thought that I heard you laughing<br/>I thought that I heard you sing<br/>I think I thought I saw you try</em>
</p>
<p>-------</p>
<p>Nobody in the office knew that Joan was an Atheist.  She had faith once, but that slowly disappeared.  A combination of her mother’s illness and death, her relationship with Charlie, and seeing how evil humanity can be rendered her unable to believe in a higher power. Joan believed in concrete evidence and data -- neither of which religion offered to her.  As a child she would attend the Methodist services with her parents, but they were not overly devout. Christmas and Easter were fun and special holidays, but as the years passed and her mom began to fade, traditions fell to the wayside. Joan watched her mother suffer, and couldn’t wrap her head around the idea that a merciful higher power would allow suffering that brutal.  That’s when Joan decided she didn’t have enough evidence and data to believe in the possibility of a higher power, and therefore decided she was Atheist. It served her well.  Joan was trying to live her life by the idea of not being a shitty person, and that’s all she felt she needed. So then why did she feel empty sometimes? Lacking? Maybe this was a conversation for her therapist.</p>
<p>------</p>
<p><em>Finally</em>, everyone settled down, or so Zoey thought.  </p>
<p>Until Max’s voice rose up, and he looked sullen.  </p>
<p>
  <em>That's me in the corner<br/>That's me in the spotlight<br/>Losing my religion<br/>Trying to keep up with you<br/>And I don't know if I can do it<br/>Oh no, I've said too much<br/>I haven't said enough</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>But that was just a dream<br/>Try, cry, why try<br/>That was just a dream<br/>Just a dream<br/>Just a dream, dream</em>
</p>
<p>Zoey walked over to his desk.</p>
<p>“You okay?”</p>
<p>Max looked at her with his soft doe eyes, and raised one eyebrow.</p>
<p>“How did you know?”</p>
<p>“Apparently everyone is having a crisis of faith today and you are not exempt.”</p>
<p>Max smiled. “Did we all sing the same song?”</p>
<p>“Yes, but what’s going on?”</p>
<p>“Can I tell you later? At movie night?”</p>
<p>“Of course. Now get back to work.” She winked at him as she walked away.</p>
<p>After the movie, Zoey heard all about Max’s father, who was being relentless again. Andrew Richman was yet again hounding his son to move back home and help run the family business because “that’s what good Jewish sons do and you are going to kill your mother.”  This last part, of course, was untrue as his mother respected her son’s independence and career. His father would name drop too; specifically, all of the young single daughters of their friends who “were asking about you” and “are wondering when you are coming home.”</p>
<p>Zoey rolled her eyes at this last part because Max <em>was</em> home in California. He also had a place in her heart and occupied a big piece of her mind too (especially when he kissed her neck in just that right spot, like he was doing now.)  </p>
<p>Zoey wasn’t sure about her views on faith, but she knew at this moment that she was having a very spiritual encounter. Little did she know, she would also have two more later.  Max was very,<em> very</em> good at making her believe in a higher power, and outer body experiences.</p>
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